Frozen food carton with plastic lid



May 12, 1953 w, J, POOLE 2,638,261

FROZEN FOOD CARTON WITH PLASTIC LID Filed May 10, 1948 WWW 'mum ofwaste space. '5

a 'Among' the objects of" :this' invention providefia'frozen food' carton thatis' satisfactory yfromfthe"foregoing standpoint; 'to employ awn- Patented May 12, 1953 FRQZEN E991) QABTONIWITHPLAS'HG LI William J. 'mla evansan; I1l. ,"a ssjgnor a Container Corporation of corporation of Delaware P l h cago, -Ill., -a

This invention relates, gehrallygtofocidar- "tons and it has particular relation' toifrozenilfoo'd -cartons."'"" I 1 a "The freezing of foodssuch as vegetables'jfruit, and the like, for storage and" preservativepur.

poses is becoming increasingly widespread? It is being done'both' commercially and domestically. -An .impo'rtantfactorin this industry is the char- =acter" and cost' of" thecartonsin' which the food is packed and frozen.

desirablei that the carton be formed of 's'uch material' that it does not contaminate the food -packed in it "and that it' does not impart fan'y undesired taste ther'eto. I *Also; the coristructionshould be such that a-fluid tight seal is provided and it' should be ofsuchshape that it" pro- .vides a good space factor-"to permit piling in'a storage space'i'n a frozen: foo

' locker with amini- The matter of cost ofthe carton is an" importantitemz= This is true not only *Ofthe -'f1r'st=cost but also in the'ability' to'reuse'the carton in'part or altogether? The carton should be relatively inexpensive 'so that it is not out of line with the cost of' othercontainers on the'mai'ket. Preferv ably itis constructedso-t'h'at certainpartsfith'e cover, for examp1e;" ca'n' bemused an indefi'nite numberof'times; arer'To tainer and separate c'oventher'efor' which 'may be assembledweadily in liquid tight relation; to

wedgingaction'with said upperedge soit-hat-a liquid tight seal is obtained; toset up the-"container -from-a blank with a'vertica-l 'lap-jointand to K 1wider'r :said recess" along a limited 1 extent in order to-accommodate-= the double': wall thickness due to the lap jointz to-provide an indicium on --the cover duo-show the location of the widened section of saidrecess? to provideth'e container and cover with rectangularcross 'sections inorder to obtain"; a good space'iacton for storage "pur- =-poses;- and "to'taper thecontainer andprovide a recess in the upper side of-the-coverconformingto the container bottom in order to permit staeking ofthe cartons one above the other. 1

- Other-objects cr -this inventionwill'; :in part-, be

obvious and inparbappea-r -hereinafter;

- enlarged scalerand This invention is disclosed inthe embodiment whereof shown;ti i1-,.the accompanying drawing and -which will be "exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of thelapplication of which will be indicated in :theap-pended claimsg-e n: "an," f: "6:44am? i I For-a more complete understandingpf the nature and: "scope --of ethiswi-nvention 4 reference can be had to the followingdetaileddescription, taken together with-the accompanyingadrawin'g, in whic-hz I Figured-is e; top plan viewvoi the cover fora carton constructed accordance "with thisint -o I. o s o.

Figure Z- isa view, in-sideelevation-,-of a container constructed: innaccordancewwith this invention having {the covers-shown rin Figune 1 as Hanover-en f3 5 :7 V

Fig.ure-3 *isaadetail "sectional view; at an enlargedi-sca-le, ,takenr along the line- -3-3 ofi-.Eig-

urelg aw-w rm m ,i l a Figure 4 is 'a"detail" sectional =view; taken along the line 4-4 of Figure l and showing the- -wide s'ection of therecessiin the underside -Ofthecover at the lap-joint,-=the showing here-being at an Figure -5*-'showshowthe cartons constructed in accordanc with thisfinventioncan bestacked ene above the-otherm -Referring new particularly to' thedrawine it -will be observed: that-thereference character 40 designates; generally, a: "carton- -ior-s-frozen foods, suchas vegetables; berries etc; The rca-rton r "I includes 1a'-=-r.eus'able covewt hat -is indicated generally; at 1 l and:iformed; prefer-ably? of a transv parent plasticx such aspolystyrene) and: a? container :body-Ql 2e-which is rectangular cross 'sect1on and which is formed-or moisture resistant paperboard. For-example, the container body-'12 ;can:be;-set up =rr'om a blank of suitably haped waxed paperboard. .1 W i 'Dhe cgntainer body l2has sideand-endwal1s 43- which previde=a squarecross section.--- :It -wi-ll be' --understood that -the walls I 3 may be-;of differentv dimensions ,but it is: preferable that -th ey be With a View to providing a liquid tight sealbetween the cover I I and the container body I2,-

the former has a peripheral recess I8, Figure 3. in its underside within which the' upper edges I? of the side and end walls I3'fit. As'showni the liquid tight seal.

In order to accommodate the'la'p-joint-formed by the glue flap IT with theadjacent'wall I3, a section I8 of the recess 5 8 is widened as shown in Figure 4. Since it is desirable to provide for readily locating the position of the widened section l8 of the recess I8, an indiciuin 23, Figure 1, is formed integrally with the cover I I. As shown, the indicium 23 may take the form of an arrow that is located on the upper side'of the cover I I.

As indicated hereinbe'fore, it is desirable to provide for stacking thefilled cartons I one above the other. For this purpose a square recess 24 is provided in the upper side of the cover II, as shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4; of the drawing, for

receiving the correspondingly'shaped bottom I 4 of the container body I2. As shown in Figure 5 this constructionpermits the stacking of the cartons I I! one above the other.

The central portion25 at the bottom-of the recess 24 in the cover II can be roughened, as

pose had a thickness of .020 inch. The thickness along the lap-joint, as shown in Figure 4, would then be twice this thickness. The tapered configuration of the container body I2 not only provides the features enumerated hereinbefore but also facilitates removal of the contents thereof.

As indicated, the cover II is formed "preferably of a transparent plastic, such as polystyrene. This material can be handled by the injection molding process so that the costof the cover I I is relatively small. This material does not change its characteristicsin the temperature range from 20 to 120 F. Itcan be washed in warm soapy water for reuse.

The container body I2, when constructed as disclosed herein, can be reused at least once. Ordinarily it can be used first for the liquid or sirup packaging of food stuffs. For ,the'subsequent use it is preferred that the food be dry packed. The cover I I can be reused an indefinite number of times provided that it is not injured in handling.

Since certain further changes can bemade in the foregoing construction and different embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is recess I8 is tapered upwardly so that a wedging action is provided between its walls andthe upperedges I9 of the side and end walls I3. This wedging action is sufficient to provide the desired intended that all matter shown in the accompanying drawing and described hereinbefore shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A frozen food carton comprising, an open top paperboard body having a lengthwise lap joint eiiteriding to its upper edge} anda'plastic friction cdver having a"'downwardl'y opening peripheral recess tapering upwardly, said recess being of increased width for a portion of its length correspondingto-said lap joint and of uniform width for the remainder of its length and fitting tightly ove'r-theupper'edge' portion of the Wall of said bhdywiththe oppo'sed surfaces of said recess contaoting the innerand the outer surfaces of said wallfor'the major portion of the depth of said recess and compressing said wall between said opposed-surfaces thereby providing a tight friction seal between said 'cover and said body.

2. A "reusable plastic cover for a frozen food carton body having a lengthwise lap joint extending to its upper edge, said cover having a downwardly opening peripheral recess tapering upwardly; saidrecess being of increased width for a portionof'its length corresponding to the lap jointof the carton body and of uniform width for the'remainder'of its length, for frictional engag'ement over the upper'edg'e portion of the wall of the carton body.

3. A'frozen food carton comprising, an open top paperboard bodysubstantially rectangular in cross section and having at one corner thereof a lengthwise lap joint extending to its upper edge, and a'substaritiallyl rectangular plastic friction cover having a downwardly opening peripheral recess tapering upwardly, said recess being of uniform-width for the 'major'portion of its extent and of increased width at a corner of said cover to accommodate saidlap joint-and fitting tightly over the-upper edge portion of the wall of said body with theopposed=surfaces of said recess contacting the inner and outer surfaces of said wall-and compressing the latter between said opposed surfaces' thereby providing a tight friction seal between said cover and said body.

.4. Areusable cover for the body of a frozen food carton of substantially rectangular cross section and having attene corner a lengthwise lap =jolnt extending to its upper edge; said cover being formed of plastic in one piece and comprising a cross wall substantially rectangular in plan and a member-extending'about the periphery of said Wall comprisin'g'an inner flange and an outer flange, said flanges diverging downwardly and defining between them an upwardly tapering recess for' frictional engagement over the upper edge portion of the wall'of the carton body, said inner-flange having an offset in its inner face at a corner of said cover to accommodate the lap joint of the carton body.

5. A reusablecover for the body of a frozen food carton, said cover being'substantially rectangular in plan with rounded corners and having a peripheral member comprising an inner flange and an outer flange, said flanges diverging downwardly'and-defining between them an upwardly tapering-recess for frictional engagement over the upper edge portion-of'the wall of the carton body,

one of said flangeshaving an' oifset in its inner f'ace'at-one corner of saidcover.

6=A reusable cover for the body of a frozen food carton of substantially rectangular cross section and having at one corner a lengthwise lap joint extendingto 'its'uppe'r edge, said cover being formed of plastic in one piece and substantially rectangular in plan and provided in its peripheral portion with a downwardly opening and upwardly tapering recess for frictional engagement over the upper edge portion of the wall of the carton body, said recess having an offset at a corner of said cover to accommodate the lap joint of the carton body.

WILLIAM J. POOLE.

Name Date Dolby Sept. 4, 1883 15 Number Number 6 Name Date Warner Mar. 9, 1886 Walter Mar. 4, 1913 McFarland Oct. 26, 1915 Drake Dec. 23, 1919 Egg-erss July 28, 1931 Harris Mar. 6, 1934 Kurz Aug. 7, 1934 Young Mar. 2, 1937 Ferngren Nov. 16, 1937 Sidebotham Dec. 6, 1938 Palmer Nov. 2, 1948 

